Monday, Aug. 5

á           House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler said his committee could recommend articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump by late fall.

á           Lewis Ziska, a 62-year-old plant physiologist whoÕs worked at USDAÕs Agricultural Research Service for more than two decades, told Politico he is quitting in protest over the Trump administrationÕs efforts to bury his groundbreaking study about how rice is losing nutrients because of rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.

á           Trump signed an executive order freezing all Venezuelan government assets of the government and its officials and barring any transactions from that have not been specifically exempted, including the Venezuelan Central Bank and the state oil company.

á           U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff sentenced Cesar Sayoc, a fanatical Trump supporter who last year mailed explosive devices to prominent Democrats and media figures, to 20 years in federal prison.

á           Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchen formally labeled China a Òcurrency manipulator.Ó

Tuesday, Aug. 6

á           The FDA announced that it discovered that the worlds most expensive treatment, Zolgensma, priced at $2.1 million, was approved using partially faulty data and that the Novartis, company that makes the gene therapy, knew that, but did not notify the FDA until after approval went through.

á           The FBI announced it is launching a domestic terrorism investigation into the Gilroy Garlic Festival shooting. Officials confirmed that the suspected shooter made a target list that included religious figures and politicians in both parties. The shooter was also in possession of white supremacist and anti-Islam literature.

á           The Trump administration and the Republican National Committee both filed lawsuits in California opposing the law Gov. Gavin Newsom signed last week requiring presidential and gubernatorial candidates to release their tax returns before their names are put on the state ballot.

Wednesday, Aug. 7

á           The House Judiciary Committee filed a lawsuit to enforce a subpoena against former White House Counsel Don McGahn. The White House has blocked McGahnÕs testimony before that committee.

á           U.S. immigration officials conducted their biggest immigration sweep in over a decade, raiding a number of food processing plants in Mississippi and arresting 680 workers.

Thursday, Aug. 8

á         A bipartisan coalition of more than 200 mayors from 36 states called on the Senate to return from its August recess to take up legislation to strengthen background checks on gun buyers through a pair of House-passed bills aimed at closing loopholes in the federal background check system.

á         House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler publicly announced for the first time that the panel is in the process of a formal impeachment inquiry. He said that the committee plans to finish its investigation and come to a decision on whether or not to vote articles of impeachment by the end of the year.

á         Trump announced the departure of Sue Gordon, the No. 2 official in the office of the Director of National Intelligence, to be replaced by current head of the National Counterterrorism Center, Vice Adm. Joseph Maguire. In a note accompanying her resignation, Gordon said she was not leaving because of her Òpreference.Ó

á         Former F.B.I. deputy director Andrew G. McCabe sued the F.B.I. and the Justice Department on the grounds that his dismissal was a politically motivated retaliation from pushed by President Trump to discredit and remove employees who were Òdeemed to be his partisan opponents.Ó McCabe was accused by the Justice Department of violating the F.B.I.Õs media policy and was fired in March of 2018.

á         The Wall Street Journal reported that major banks such as Bank of America Corp., Citigroup Inc., Deutsche Bank AG, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo & Co. have recently provided thousands of financial documents related to Russians who may have had dealings Trump, his family or his business to congressional investigators.

Friday, Aug. 9

á           A federal judge awarded more than $700,000 to a former American University student government president who accused the founder of a well-known neo-Nazi website of directing his followers to threaten her with racist online messages. The decision may mark the first time a court has ruled that racist online trolling activity can interfere with equal access to a public accommodation.

Saturday, Aug. 10

á         The FBI and the Justice DepartmentÕs inspector general launched inquiries into the apparent suicide of Jeffrey Epstein, a politically connected financier charged with sexually abusing dozens of young girls, while in federal custody.

á         Trump re-tweeted a post voicing a conspiracy theory that Bill Clinton was potentially responsible for EpsteinÕs death.

Sunday, August 11

á         No news to report.